Background Given several reports implicating involvement of the precuneus in cue-reactivity

Published May 31, 2016

Background Given several reports implicating involvement of the precuneus in cue-reactivity paradigms the goal of this investigation was to examine the relationship between activation of the precuneus in response to drug cues and actions of subjective craving and severity of dependence in volunteers who were comorbid for alcohol Rabbit polyclonal to GST and nicotine misuse. imaging (fMRI) session including a cigarette video-cues task and an alcohol taste-cues task. Mean precuneus activation from both jobs during cue demonstration was subjected to bivariate correlation analyses with indices of dependence severity and subjective craving. Results Precuneus activation in the contrast of Cigarette Cues vs. Control Cues was positively correlated with scores within the Fagerstr?m Test of Smoking Dependence (r=0.389 = 427). Recruitment occurred through community flyers and on-line advertisements. The protocol was authorized by the University or college PTC124 (Ataluren) of California Los Angeles Institutional Review Table. A total of 130 individuals were randomized to receive medication and of those a random sample of 40 weighty drinking smokers was invited to participate in the neuroimaging portion of the study. Inclusion criteria for the study were: 1) age between 21 and 55 years; 2) endorsement of smoking 10 or more cigarettes per day; 3) current status of heavy drinking according to the National Institute on Alcohol Misuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) recommendations (National Institute on Alcohol Misuse and Alcoholism 1995 for males >14 drinks per week or ≥5 drinks per occasion at least once per month over the past 12 months; for ladies >7 PTC124 (Ataluren) drinks per week or ≥4 drinks per occasion at least once per month. Exclusion criteria were: 1) more than 3 months of smoking abstinence in the past yr; 2) self-reported use of illicit medicines (other than marijuana) in the previous 60 days or positive urine toxicology result; 3) lifetime history of psychotic disorders bipolar disorders or major major depression with suicidal ideation; 4) current symptoms of moderate major depression (or higher) indexed by a score ≥20 within the Beck Major depression Inventory-II (Beck 1996 5 ineligibility on physical examination and laboratory checks; and 6) MRI contraindications/constraints including left-handedness. 2.2 Testing Procedures and Individual Difference Actions Demographic info including age sex ethnicity and PTC124 (Ataluren) years of education was collected from all participants. Also obtained were self-reports of cigarette and alcohol use and indices of nicotine and alcohol dependence (Table 1). Indie t-tests or Pearson correlations were carried out on all demographic variables; no significant human relationships between any demographic variables were observed (<0.001. Precuneus activation from your PTC124 (Ataluren) cigarette and alcohol cue contrasts however exposed positive correlations with indices of nicotine dependence and alcohol dependence respectively (Table 2). In the Cigarette Cues vs. Control Cues contrast activation of the precuneus was significantly correlated with FTND total score (r=.389 p=.016; Number 3) and precuneus activation in the Alcohol Cues vs. Control Cues contrast showed PTC124 (Ataluren) a significant correlation with ADS total score (r=.338 p=.038; Number 4). ADS and FTND total scores were not significantly correlated with each other (p=.162). Further ADS was not correlated with activation in the Cigarette Cues vs. Control Cues contrast and FTND was not correlated with activation in the Alcohol Cues vs. Control Cues contrast (ps>.05) suggesting specificity of the relationship between severity and cue-reactivity to the substance in question (namely alcohol or smoking cigarettes). Number 3 Scatterplot of precuneus activation (fMRI parameter estimations) from your Cigarette Cues vs. Control Cues contrast (controlling for medication group) and Fagerstr?m Test of Smoking Dependence (FTND) score. The match collection represents a R2 = 0.151. Number 4 Scatterplot of precuneus activation (fMRI parameter estimations) from your Alcohol Cues vs. Control Cues contrast (controlling for medication group) and Alcohol Dependence Level (ADS) score. The match collection represents a R2 = 0.114. Table 2 Correlations among dependence indices self-reported craving actions and precuneus activation from your Alcohol vs. Control and Cigarette vs. Control contrasts (controlling for medication group). Study medication group (varenicline only naltrexone only varenicline + naltrexone or placebo) regarded as here like a covariate of no interest accounted for a significant amount of variance in precuneus activation from your Cigarette Cues vs. Control Cues contrast. Specifically differences were observed when comparing the varenicline group (M=4.44 SD=17.11) to the.